Historical Construction of the U.S.-Mexico Border
This is the beginning of the end. A long time ago, in a land not so far away, Mexicans and United States citizens lived lives away from outside conquest, away from Spain, France and Britian. And now today we have a 15 foot wall that draws the line between the United States and Mexico. But it wasntt always that way. At one point Mexico had more land than the U.S. did. But as the years went on, war broke out between the United States and Mexico and shrank Mexico. Gold was later discovered and railroads were built, further pushing back the line between us and them. Even with the line changing, Mexicans still resided in the U.S. as the Bracero program was established. But when the program came to a end, a new structure came about, maquiladoras arose from the deserts of Mexico. As maquiladoras still run the American economy, NAFTA is born in 1994 making the population of the borderlands increase dramatically. Presidents' Bill Clinton and George W. Bush have since tightened the border between the U.S. and Mexico to push back drug trafficingg, human trafficingg, and illegal imigrationn into the land of the free. To this day, the U.S. government is trying to add more walls, build higher fences, and employ more Border Patrol to regulate the land that was taken from Mexico many many years ago Timeline of Important Historical Events ''' 1819 - Adam-Onis Treaty: U.S.-Mexico boundary established by Spain and the United States. 1821 - Mexico wins independence from Spain & Mexico permits Stephen F. Austin to start Texas colonization. 1835-1836 - Struggle Over Texan Independence. (Texas declares independence form Mexico in 1836) 1846 - The U.S. Mexico war begins. 1848 - Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo brings the U.S.-Mexican War to an end 1849 - Large numbers of U.S. pioneers and immigrants from around the world travel to the mining area 1851 - The California Land Act attempts to resolve property disputes between Anglos and Mexican Americans 1890 - In El Paso, Mexican Americans work for the railroads 1917 - U.S. intercepts a transmission from Germany to Mexico, thus leading the U.S. to join World War I. 1924 - Immigration Act of 1924 halts the flow of other immigrant groups, border stations are established to formally admit Mexican workers, and a tax is collected on each person entering. 1942 - The bracero program begins, allowing Mexican nationals to temporarily work in the United States – primarily in the agricultural industry 1964 - Bracero program ends and shuts down 1964 - The first maquiladoras are established; mass employment of cheap labor along the Mexican border by U.S. companies begins 1994 - NAFTA, or the North American Free Trade Agreement comes into affect, stimulating trade between the United States and Mexico. This then makes border population have massive increase 1996 - President Bill Clinton gets very strict on limiting iimmigration and drug trafficking 2004 - The Department of Homeland Security is created President Bush pushes for more agents on Border Patrol 2010 - Arizona takes on new immigration laws and one major change is SB 1070 which is very controversial '''Web sources: Historical construction of the borderlands. The following websites contain useful information on the historical construction of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands including interactive timelines and guided discussions of historical events from days of early exploration to the present. Council on Foreign Relations: http://www.cfr.org/mexico/us-mexico-relations-1810-present/p19092 PBS: http://www.pbs.org/kpbs/theborder/history/interactive-timeline.html Bibliography